Malware Flashcards
What is meant by the term Trojan Horse?
What are the impacts?
Trojan Horse is a piece of malware that disguises itself as a normal file or software, to trick the user into downloading and installing the file/software.
A Trojan Horse can act as a ‘back-door’ to a computer system to allow more malware to downloaded onto the computer.
What is a virus?
A virus is a piece of malware that infects a computer system by attaching itself to a file/software.
What is SpyWare?
SpyWare’s goal is to spy on the user’s activity without their knowledge.
This could be keyloggers which log what the user types; such as sensitive information like usernames and passwords.
What is a Worm?
Worms spread over computer systems by exploiting operating system vulnerabilties.
Worms typically cause harm to their host network by consuming bandwith and overloading web servers. This will slow networks down.
What are the differences between a Worm and a Virus?
Worms have the ability to self-replicate and spread independetly (sending infected emails to contacts)
Viruses rely on human activity to spread (running a file/ opening a program which you have downloaded which contains the virus)
What is a Rootkit?
Rootkits are Malware which embed itself deep into the users elevated system files. This makes it undetectable to anti-virus software, and in some cases, even survive a complete wipe.
Rootkits are designed to remotely access or control a computer system without being detected. They also function as a back-door to allow more Malware to be installed.
What is meant by the term Adware?
A type of Malware that automatically delivers advertisements.
Common examples are pop-up advertisements on websites.
Adware is commonly associated with SpyWare.
What is a Bot?
Bots are software programs created to automatically peform specific actions.
Bots can be used to create Botnets. These can be used for malicious purposes such as DDoS attacks.
